


Stepping Forward

by Rikkapikasnikka



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Gen, Le Gorille Appreciation Day, Post-Hawk Moth Defeat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:40:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22777285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rikkapikasnikka/pseuds/Rikkapikasnikka
Summary: After M. Agreste's arrest, he's faced with a choice from the government: Adrien can go to London, or Adrien can live with him. Bringing Adrien home is easy. Learning to move past the shock and grief, however, will be the hardest thing they have to do.Short one-shot written for Gorilla's Appreciation Day on the MLB FF Discord.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Le Gorille | Adrien Agreste's Bodyguard
Comments: 18
Kudos: 187
Collections: February 2020 - Character Appreciation





	Stepping Forward

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to everyone on the discord who inspires me to write every day! Enjoy!

Some part of him should have expected this. Some part of him should have prepared for this. He _knew_ something strange was going on in that household, but he had always chalked it up to the air of grief that hung around after the only light in the mansion went out. Yet things had been strange even before then, if he was going to be honest with himself. He had seen the signs - but he had chosen to ignore them, because he was paid to turn a blind eye and just do as he was told. And now…

Now, walking up the stairs to his own, small flat far from the arrondissement Adrien had grown up in, he wondered what he could’ve done to prevent all of this from happening.

Some part of him wondered if he had recognised M. Agreste’s voice when he had been akumatised. His memories of his time as Gorizilla are fuzzy; the only clear portion featured him, right afterward, sitting in that square and looking around in confusion. Looking back, he had thought it odd that Ladybug and Chat Noir had referred to the boy in the helmet as Adrien - while the child had possessed some resemblance, it hadn’t been his charge.

He set down the suitcase he was carrying and dug out his keys. For a while, he fumbled through them, pushing aside several nickel ones to find the dark bronze key he needed to open the door, but in his haste, he dropped them. 

A smaller hand picked them up, flipped through the ring, and pushed the correct key into the lock. He glanced sideways at the boy, wondering _how_ he still managed to smile and show kindness no matter his circumstances. He nodded in appreciation to Adrien’s help, turned the key in the lock, and pushed his front door open. 

His home was not much. A small kitchen, a small bedroom, and only one bathroom that they would have to share. The area of his flat could’ve fit in the Agreste foyer, but Adrien’s eyes barely processed it before he sighed and walked in, his shoulders hunched. Gabriel would never have allowed his son to slouch like that, he knew, but considering that Gabriel was… Well…

They spent the next several minutes on a mini-tour. He showed Adrien the bathroom and how to work the shower, where the towels were, and where to put his laundry. They admired his display case full of action figures, connected Adrien’s laptop and school tablet to the internet, and how to use the television with the remote. He gestured to the fridge and the cabinets in the kitchen, then to himself, and then to Adrien: _What’s here is mine, and mine is yours._

Adrien always understood him, and the boy nodded as his jaw trembled. Cautiously, afraid to upset him further than strictly necessary, he reached out and patted Adrien on the shoulder. He tried to smile, but whatever flashed across his face must’ve been the wrong response.

Adrien was crying. Again.

“S-Sorry, it’s just… It’s j-just a lot, a-and-”

He shook his head, trying to not appear frantic. Adrien pushed away his tears, but he stepped around the boy to grab the tissue box on the side table. He offered them to Adrien, and the boy took out several to dry his face and blow his nose. Within a minute, he was composed and calm, if a bit red in the face. He hated seeing the boy like this, squashing his emotions until they burst through the barrier and broke him down. He hoped his friends at school would help him. Despite the news, despite all he had been through, Adrien still wanted to go back as soon as possible. No exceptions.

Dinner was a frozen meal that he popped into the oven, and they watched some children’s network show while it cooked. He had no idea what Adrien would actually want to watch, but he figured that most of the news stations would be showcasing M. Agreste’s arrest, and Adrien didn’t need to see that again. Especially since he had witnessed it in person.

When the oven dinged, he went back to the kitchen to pull out the meal and equally divide it into bowls. As he was digging through the silverware drawer, the television sounded a jiggle that sent chills down his spine: wasn’t that the Ladybug and Chat Noir show? 

He rushed out to the living room, slightly panicked, but Adrien held up a hand and stopped him. The boy had long since curled up in a blue blanket he had pulled from his suitcase, and his hair was tousled and messy. On the screen, a girl in dark pigtails and red ribbons moved from one Parisian rooftop to another, and a blond boy in black chased after her. The show only had a few episodes, and he personally enjoyed them as a children’s superhero series, but Adrien was watching it intently, engrossed already in the opening theme.

Concerned, but no longer scared, he turned back to the kitchen. He turned off the oven, picked up the bowls, and brought them out to the boy on the couch. Adrien whispered, “Thank you,” as he took his bowl, but he didn’t start eating right away. 

The channel played two episodes, back to back, before switching over to another show. The whole time, Adrien watched, absorbed in the costumes and the cat jokes and the akumas, and he only flinched when Papillon came into frame. He watched the boy carefully, knowing that he had to now look out for his emotional well-being as well as his physical, but Adrien seemed fine. Yet he wasn’t making much of a dent in his food...

He remembered how Adrien had so easily suppressed his sorrow only a couple of hours ago. How could a child be so open yet so closed off? He blamed M. Agreste for his inadequate parenting.

The clock ticked closer and closer to nine, and when the current show ended, he stood up from the couch and turned off the television. Adrien blinked, clearly lost, as if he hadn’t been paying attention to the cartoons. He gestured for the boy to come with him into the bedroom, and Adrien obediently stood up and followed, still clenching his blanket.

Hesitantly, he gestured to Adrien’s suitcase, to the bed, and turned around. Adrien stopped him by laying a hand on his arm.

“I’m not taking _your_ bed.” 

He scuffed.

“Seriously. I can take the couch, it’s fine-”

He picked Adrien up from under his arms, set him on the bed, and gave him a stern glare. The boy looked shocked for a moment, and then he broke into laughter.

Bright, bubbling, clear laughter that shattered the grief that had followed them to this small, empty flat. He couldn’t help but laugh with him, a gruff chuckle that shook his shoulders and rumbled in his chest. Together, they tried to laugh away the pain that clung to them. Together, they would try to figure this out. They weren’t family, but they had both lived and stayed in that household, none the wiser that the lord of the mansion was actually a tyrant, a supervillain, _a monster…_

Their laughter died, he cleared his throat, and he gestured to the bed again. Adrien sighed. “Just for tonight,” he relented. He shrugged in response, and turned to walk away to give the boy some privacy. 

“Hey.”

He looked back, waiting. 

“What uhm, can I call you? I know I always called you _‘_ _Le Gorille'_ _,_ but that’s not very polite, and I do apologise for that, so uhh…”

He chuckled again, amused. He knew Adrien’s nickname for him, but he had never been offended before. Whatever gave the boy a sliver of happiness and creativity was fine with him, and he had always enjoyed clever nicknames. He seemed to really like cheese too; maybe once he was asleep, he could find a store and buy some so he could take it to school the next morning. 

“Jacques.” He offered, simply.

“Thank you, Jacques. I appreciate all you’ve done. Thank you for...for fostering me.”

He hummed, knowing Adrien would understand, and closed the bedroom door behind him.

They had a long way to go before they found their new normal, but at least they were taking the steps forward to find it. 

**Author's Note:**

> [Come and join us on the Miraculous Fanworks Discord server!](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks)  
> We are a community of MLB fans who write, read, beta, collab, and even exchange fanfiction and fanart. We run events, Author AMAs, calendar prompts, writing and art sprints, and we even have a book club for fanfics! Come join over 500 amazing, supportive Ladybug and Chat Noir fans today!


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